Ultimate Batman #1- Mob City

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Ultimate Batman #1

 

Mob City  

Rain pelted the grounds of the Elliot House. The socialites had stormed inside of the old manor when the sky had opened up. The laughs of the remorselessly corrupt and the willfully blind flooded the ears of a tall, dark-haired man. He cradled an untouched martini, when a familiar voice broke through the buzz of the crowd.

“Bruce, I think you might have forgotten how fundraisers work. You should be down there schmoozing. Not up here fostering warm drinks.” Bruce flashed a smile he had perfected years ago when his parents died. His smile was met by one of Gotham’s greatest advocates and one of the few men Bruce shared a mutual respect with; Harvey Dent.

“The Tommy Elliot Foundation practically runs itself now. It took it a few years to get off the ground, but now I just have to throw a nice dinner party, and Gotham opens their check book. This is the one event no matter how much I try; I just can’t bring myself to be the life of the party.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Bruce. He knew we were playing with fire when we targeted Falcone. I knew it was a long shot when I asked you to run for Mayor. By saying no you didn’t put the bullet in Tommy’s head.”

“I know that, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t always feel like I pointed him down the path to his demise.”

“Bruce, if we didn’t act back then we all would have met our maker by now. That is where you make your biggest mistake. You remember Tommy as a victim and not as the hero he was. Jim, Batman and I played our role, but without Tommy we couldn’t have rallied Gotham.”

“Gotham rallied, but the pillars you tried to institute are crumbling. Jim Gordon left as soon as phase one ended. We both know the pillar Tommy represented never materialized. And you can’t keep this up forever, Harvey. You’re trying to hold Gotham on your shoulders and it’s going to crush you.”

“I have some pretty strong shoulders. I think they can manage to hold the weight of a city on them for at least a little while longer. Not to mention a little birdie told me, that a certain Jim Gordon might be making his way back to Gotham. Now if I could only find a candidate to run for Mayor.”

“I told you once before Harvey its just not for—“

Bruce was cut off by the sound of a gunshot. Instinctively he threw Harvey and himself to the ground. Bruce scrambled across the floor to get a better view of the assailants. Five men all wore the same outfit: tuxedos with a red helmet covering their faces and matching red capes.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is what is known as a stick-up. My associates here are going to go around and collect your valuables. Cash, cards, necklaces, rings, watches those sorts of things. Cooperate fully and we will be out of your hair in no time. I know most of you know this already; Don’t be a hero. It’s just not worth it.”

The other four men started going around the room collecting wallets and phones from all of the partygoers. The leader of the gang stood alone at the front of the room not moving. His head moved from side to side constantly scanning the room for the first sign of trouble.

Bruce moved quickly whispering for Harvey to sneak into the higher levels of the manor. Bruce ducked away into the shadows making his way to the safe room in the master study of the Elliot House. When Tommy left Bruce the Elliot home Bruce made some careful modifications to help him in his crusade against the criminal and corrupt of Gotham.


The lights flickered three times before the Elliot House was plunged into complete darkness. Shrill screams and the shocked gasps formed a dull roar which filled the ball room of the Elliot Manor.

“Remain calm ladies and gentlemen! It’s just part of the show.” The gang leader shouted as smoke began to fill the room.
“Yes, but it is my show now.” Batman replied dropping two of the masked men directly in front of the leader.

“Get to the van, it’s the bat!” he screamed firing his rifle into the crowd of people which elicited another round of screams from the party goers.

“Penny-One, please send the Batmobile to my current location.” Batman said, over his miniature communication device that was built into his black cowl, as he followed the three remaining red hoods out the door.

“It is already on its way sir. I have also alerted the GCPD of the emergency at the Elliot House.”

“Thank you, Penny-One. I need you to track their progress until I can get near them.”

“Of course, sir.”

Batman watched the gangs van speed away.

“How far is the batmobile, Penny-One?”

“It should be there in three. Two. One.” The batmobile slid to a stop just a few feet away from Batman.

“Thank you, Penny-One. Do you have a current location on the van?” Batman said as he slid into the driver’s seat of the batmobile.

“Last seen approximately two minutes ago travelling west down the Cobblepot Corridor towards the Arthur B. Kane Bridge.”

“Thank you, Penny-One try to limit cross traffic for me.”

The streets of Gotham were soaked as the Batmobile zoomed down the Cobblepot Corridor. The black vehicle was designed by Luicus Fox to transverse the streets of Gotham as efficiently as possible. Batman kept focused on the road in front of him as he sped through intersections.

Rounding the bend near the Benjamin C. Elliot tunnel he spotted the getaway vehicle. Batman poured power to the car’s thrusters to close in on them. The Batmobile settled in beside the van as they entered the tunnel. Batman unleashed one of the car’s many defenses , a micro- Electro Magnetic Pulse. The van’s engine and the lights of the tunnel shut off instantly. Both vehicles came to a rapid stop; Batman exited the Batmobile powering it off as he did.

“Get out of the vehicle” He shouted his voice was a deep, raspy growl created by a Wayne Industries voice modifier. The tunnel was pitch black, but the thermal lenses in the cowl allowed Batman to see the crooks moving around in the van. The two in the front of the van were kicking out the windshield. The two men in the back were remaining still trying to disguise their partners actions. Batman braced himself as the back door of the van swung open.

Shots rang out from the van and Batman could only watch as one of the robbers dropped from the van.

“You have two choices, Batman. Save the kid or capture us. I would make my decision quickly if I were you. He doesn’t look so good.” The gunman shouted before slipping away into the pitch-black depths of the tunnel.

The headlights of the red 1999 Buick Le Sabre illuminated a sign reading 45 miles to Gotham as Jim Gordon broke the hours of silence between him and his seventeen year old daughter.

“Barbara, you haven’t said a word to me since we left St. Roche. I know this has been a lot to take in and everything is changing all at once, but I promise you some of it is change for the better.”

Barbara answered him with more silence and a stern glance from her green eyes.

“Barbara, it’s just you and me now. I need you to talk to me.” Jim said running a hand through his auburn hair.

“What is there to talk about? James is an adult now your custody agreement with mom doesn’t apply to him, but it does apply to me so you’re dragging me back to Gotham.”

“Watch your tone, Barbara. I didn’t intend on coming back to Gotham, but the university was facing budget cuts and I was the odd man out. I had an old friend in Gotham pull some strings to get me hired back in as a lieutenant.”

“You expect me to believe that?” Barbara sarcastically replied.

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“Because Dad I listen. I talk to you and mom both. I listened to you fight for years. You have an obsession with this city. Gotham is your identity and that’s why when we got to St. Roche you felt unfulfilled.”

Jim cringed as his daughter hit his feelings about Gotham right on the head. “There’s an old quote attributed to Nicholas Gates, the architect of Gotham, ‘Gotham does not destroy men, but reveals who they truly are.’ This quote was after a terrible turn of events that nearly caused the collapse of Gotham before the city ever got established. That quote describes how I feel about Gotham.” Jim paused to gauge his daughter’s reaction.

“So what did Gotham reveal about you, Dad?”

Gordon sighed before he answered his daughter question. “Well that’s a loaded question isn’t it? I guess Gotham revealed…that I am selfish. I put myself before you, your mom and your brother. I found such fulfillment in bringing in the bad guys of Gotham I never stopped to consider what it was doing to my wife and kids.”

Jim paused for a minute trying to regain his composure. His eyes grew red and his voice had begun to shake. He had never been good about being open with his feelings with anyone not even Barbara’s mother.

“By the time I looked back on it all and realized the terrible mistake I had made it was too late. Your mother had wilted away from the strong and independent woman I married into a hollow shell of who she was. I messed up and now I have paid the price.”

“So why are we really going back to Gotham?” Barbara questioned.

“Because I’m selfish, I left people behind in Gotham. Good people who were counting on me. And I left those friends in difficult places to try and take care of my family. I knew before we left there was nothing that could save our family from crumbling, but I had to try. Now we are coming back to Gotham to finish the work I started.”

“So why did you bring me back to Gotham after what it did to mom?”

“The reason I brought you back to Gotham is simple you might look like your mother, but you are my daughter. Gotham is going to challenge you in all the right ways and you’ll be a stronger person for it. I promise you Barbara as long as we stick together there is nothing Gotham can throw our way we can’t handle.” Jim finished as the miles rolled on.


The air was cool on Crispus Allen’s bald head as he approached the crime scene. Crispus reached in his jacket for a pack of smokes. He pressed the cigarette between his lips and patted his pockets for his lighter. He lit his cigarette and put the nearly empty pack and lighter back into his pocket. He reached in his opposite breast pocket and removed his badge. He was going to need it to make it through the crowd of onlookers. They were like human crows moving in on a carcass it sickened him.

“GCPD! Clear a path!” Crispus yelled at the murder of reporters. Almost in unison they turned and began bombarding him with questions. Crispus pushed his way through the jackals and finally ducked underneath the barricade tape.

Crispus searched through the sea of crime scene investigators for any other detective. Finally, he found a familiar face in his former partner Detective Manny Gomez. The Hispanic detective was in his early forties, short and round. Manny’s thick, bushy, black moustache made him easily distinguishable in any crowd.

“How’s it going, Manny?” Crispus asked as he flicked the ash from the end of his cigarette.

“Pretty shitty. Nothing I love more than crime scenes in my neighborhood.”

“Yeah, I know how that is. Dorie and the boys are upstate for the weekend. An empty house always makes me restless so when I heard the sirens figured I would come check it out. How are Rosita and the twins?”

“She’s running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to keep up with those rascals. The twins are growing more each day. I feel sometimes I leave for a shift and I’ve been gone for a month.”

“You got to value that time man. They don’t stay that way nearly long enough. So what do we have out here tonight? Looking at all the actual police work being done I’m starting to think we might have a crime not connected to any of the
crime families.”

“This is an ugly one, Cris. We have an unidentified white female, early twenties, blonde hair and green eyes. Looks like cause of death is blood loss due to numerous lacerations all over her body. “

“Do we have any leads to go on?” Crispus said lighting a fresh cigarette.

“You’re not going to like this, Cris, but it looks like he’s back.” Crispus jaw dropped along with his cigarette. The scar that ran from his right shoulder to his sternum ached. Crispus pushed past Manny to get to the physical scene of the crime.
“Crispus!” Manny yelled at him as he waded through the sea of crime scene technicians closer to the dead girl’s body.

Crispus ignored him and the numerous techies yelling at him. He had to see the body. The body would tell him rather it was him or not.

“Watch the fuck out, Allen!” Crispus disregarded the cry from Jim Corrigan. Crispus crouched down over the body and took a pair of gloves that a female techie offered him. Crispus turned the girls head to look underneath her left ear to see if she had his mark.

Crispus stomach dropped when he saw the five-bar gate tally mark underneath her ear. Crispus stood up and removed the gloves. Crispus strode away from the crime scene removing his cell phone from his pants pocket. He struggled to navigate the menus on the phone.

“Dorie, it’s Crispus. Stay at your mother’s house a few more days.”

“No, everything is fine just some work stuff is going on and I need to make sure you guys are safe.”

“I love you, too. I’ll let you know when we have things dealt with. I will take care of myself. I promise.”
Crispus hung up the phone and tucked it back into his pocket. Manny had walked over to make sure everything was alright.

“You alright, man? I know you and Zsasz have a bit of history. I can take this case if you want me to pal. I was the first one here after all.”

“Nah, Manny I got this one. You go home to Rosita and those babies. I’m going to make sure Zsasz ends up in the electric chair this time.”

“Thanks Crispus. If you need any help with the case just let me know. I’ll tell Rosita you send your love.”
Crispus pulled his phone out and dialed one of the few numbers he had memorized.

“Hey Montoya it’s me. Meet me at the station we’ve got a case.”


The cool morning air bit at the face of the collected group of reporters. The gathering had started hours ago before sunrise. Sadly, the ones that had gotten there early were the smart ones Vicki Vale remarked to herself. Vicki was a spitfire barely out of graduate school; she had managed to find a position with the floundering Gotham Gazette as the political correspondent. In recent years, the Gazette’s founder Paul Morrison had passed away and his children had no interest in seeing the paper adapt for the modern age. The only reason the Gazette was printing papers every other day was the tax write-off the Morrison family claimed for it. Nonetheless, Vicki Vale had a job to do and that was to deliver the news.

Vicki readied her tape recorder as a finely dressed man strode to the podium. The man had prominent scars running from underneath his left eye to his chin was the only introduction he needed. Carmine Falcone fled Gotham over five years ago when Batman made him public enemy number one.

Now that he had returned everyone was bracing for the shitstorm of the century. Harvey Dent’s close friend Thomas Elliot had been the last victim of the Falcone crime family in Gotham. Dent nearly lost his job when he went after Falcone with a weak case. Then The Batman intervened putting in overtime to shut down the operations of Falcone.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I would like to first start by graciously thanking you for your time. I know that a lot of you have questions for me, but for the time being I ask that you allow me to speak.” Falcone paused for a moment preparing himself for his statement.

“Gotham was my first love and if you ask my ex-wife she would tell you Gotham was the only thing I ever truly loved. Over the years, people in Gotham have called me all manner of names and told me I should be ashamed of the things I have done. All of the things I have done: I did in the name of progress.

And progress is never free and it is never easy. If you look back throughout history you will see that every great city had men and women who were unafraid to pay the price for progress. Gotham has been filled with generations of brave men and women who fought in the name of progress. I am proud, not ashamed, to count myself among those great Gothamites.

I won’t waste any of your time going through my personal history with this city. I just remind you that I have stood for Gotham’s future before and I hope to stand for it once again. I have just signed the final paperwork to make me a candidate for the upcoming mayoral election and I pledge with the help of the voters of this city that Gotham will once again be the greatest city in the world.”

As the crowd around her erupted with questions Vicki Vale had to fight her gag reflex at the events that had just transpired.